In this study, we analyzed the variation in the length
of donor buds and anthers optimal for anther culture.
The precise identification of these buds and anthers in
different genotypes is not always easy. We used a total
of 12 accessions of eggplant and related materials as a
representation of the diversity of eggplant, including
commercial cultivars, local varieties, wild relatives,
and some materials of interest for breeding from the
eggplant primary and secondary genepool. To shed
light on the influence of heterostyly on the androgenic
response of long and short-styled eggplant buds, and to
confirm the usefulness or uselessness of short-styled
flowers for anther culture, we performed a research
comparing the embryo yield of anthers obtained from
both flower types. We found that in the case of the
optimal bud length for anther isolation and culture, the
particularities of eggplant flower biology have a direct
impact on the response of the microspores to androgenesis
induction, and no impact at all in the case of
floral heterostyly. These results may be directly